Cedric's gift
by Impactaddiction
Summary: This is a short prequel to Cedric's Journey. Sofia is 18/19 and Cedric is 29. Enjoy!


"Where in blazes is that box?" Cedric was frantically tearing apart his workshop while searching for the wassailia gift that he had gotten for Princess Sofia. The royal family was throwing a wassailia ball to celebrate and he was hoping to have her gift ready by the time King Roland lit the candle that evening.

They had always made it a point to give each other something special for wassailia. Even though it might not be as extravagant as some of the other gifts, they were always special. Cedric looked above his desk to the handmade wand case that Sofia had made for him years ago. It was a little banged up here and there from a few wrong spells and potions, but he still treasured it nonetheless. Cedric opened the case and tucked safely inside next to the family wand was a little box with a purple ribbon around it.

Remembering how he had placed Sofia's gift there for safekeeping, Cedric carefully picked up the box and examined its contents. Inside the box was a lovely comb that was adorned with crystal ice lilies. Cedric knew how much he and Sofia loved it when it snowed on wassailia, so he thought she would appreciate the trinket.

He placed the comb upon his desk and grabbed the spell book that he had thrown to the side while searching for the comb. He recovered the spell that he wanted and waved his wand over the comb. The crystal ice lilies suddenly began to glow and shimmer as though they were real ice lilies.

"Perfect," Cedric said, satisfied. There was a knock at the door and Cedric quickly covered the comb with a few scrap pieces of paper that were strewn on the desk.

"Come in," he called.

"Cedric," Bailywick stepped inside of the messy workshop. "Do you ever clean up in here?" He peered around the room, obviously disgusted.

"I've tried getting mice to clean up for me, but my raven keeps scaring them away." Cedric replied sarcastically. "Is there something you want bailiwick?"

"King Roland would like your assistance with the decorations for the ball," Bailywick said unscathed by Cedric's banter. "If you're sure that you won't set anything on fire, I would suggest that you come down to the banquet hall." With that he glanced down at his watch and turned from the room.

Cedric rolled his eyes and turned to follow the steward. Before he left, he quickly grabbed the comb and placed it back in the box. He put Sofia's gift in his robe and walked out of the workshop and down the stairs to the banquet hall. Cedric spent the next few hours attempting to make the banquet hall look as annoyingly cheerful as possible. All of the castle staff were running around trying to get everything prepared.

Bailywick was ushering one person after another and giving his various critiques. After Cedric had lit the final lantern on the wassailia tree, he reached into his pocket and pulled out Sofia's present. With his wand he wrote "For Princess Sofia, From Cedric" and placed it lovingly underneath the tree with the other gifts for the royal family. Before long, guests had started to arrive from the neighboring kingdoms and everyone eagerly waited for the royal family to make their grand entrance. Cedric couldn't wait because as soon as the royal family arrived, he was free to leave and return to the quiet of his workshop. The royal musicians began to play and one after the other, the royal family made their way down the grand staircase and into the banquet hall.

Cedric bowed with the rest of the staff as King Roland escorted Queen Miranda, quickly followed by Princess Amber and Prince Zandar of Tangu, then Prince James and Princess Jun of Wei-ling, and then at last Princess Sofia.

Just as Cedric had caught sight of her, something very strange overcame him. He suddenly found it very hard to breathe. Sofia looked different somehow. She still had the same confident smile that she always wore. Her hair was put up regally, with a few of her brown curls delicately framing her face. She wore a lovely powder blue gown that was adorned with snowflakes and the amulet of Avalor shown brilliantly around her neck. He couldn't get over how radiant she was. It was common for the Princess to frequent his workshop for one reason or another, and somehow he had never noticed how grown-up she had become.

She was beautiful. Cedric quickly caught himself and turned his gaze back to the floor as the royal family passed him on their way to the ball. Just as he had righted himself with the rest of the bowing staff, he couldn't help but notice that Sofia had just turned her gaze back to her family. Cedric wondered what might have caught her attention.

King Roland greeted his guests and the Wassailia ball began. The King escorted the Queen to the center of the ballroom and began to waltz. A few of the other couples followed suite and began to fill the dancefloor. Cedric decided that it was as good a time as any to sneak back to his workshop. Before he had made it to the door, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Thinking that Bailywick was, once again, preventing him from enjoying a quiet evening in his workshop, Cedric turned to meet his accomplice. He was greeted with a pair of sapphire eyes and the kind smile of Princess Sofia.

"Mr. Cedric, were you going somewhere?" Sofia smiled up at the sorcerer.

"I, uh, have work to do tonight, Princess Sofia." Cedric could feel his face getting warm.

"But, its wassailia, can't it wait until tomorrow?" She pleaded.

"Well…" Cedric couldn't think of a good reason to leave. He looked down at the Princess and found himself defeated by her. "I suppose-"

Sofia took hold of Cedric's hand and led him to the dance floor.

"Princess Sofia I-I'm really not good at this," he stammered.

"It's okay, I can show you." Sofia cheerfully replied. Cedric placed a hand around the Princess's waist and took hold of her hand with the other. He found it hard to concentrate on the direction that his feet were moving in, but Sofia patiently guided him in graceful cricles, keeping up with the music.

His hands started to tremble, causing her to tighten her grasp slightly. Cedric glanced around and could see that some of the other staff members and royal guests had taken notice of the mismatched pair circling the dance floor.

"People are staring at us…" Cedric informed her through a pained smile, trying to act like he was less uncomfortable than he was.

"Don't mind them Mr. Cedric. You're my friend and its wassailia. When we gather with all of our friends and family and celebrate together." Sofia smiled up at him, ever confident.

The musicians finished the song and Cedric bowed to Sofia, thanking her for the dance. Sofia gave the sorcerer a polite curtsy in return. They shared each other's gaze for a few moments when King Roland announced that it was time to light the wassailia candle. The inhabitants in the hall all gathered around the brilliant candle that was set beside the royal family's table. King Roland lit the wick and made his usual candle lighting speech. Sofia gathered around him with the rest of her family and Cedric seized the opportunity and snuck out of the ballroom.

His heart was racing as he thought about his dance with Sofia, though he was unsure why. He wasn't a fan of being put on the spot like that and was sure that he would receive some teasing from Bailywick for it. He reached his workshop and made his way to the balcony up the stairs. The air was crisp and cool and he could see the snow illuminated from the lanterns outside.

He was grateful for the cold air on his face, cooling him off and clearing his mind. Once again, there was a knock on the door inside, this one however was for familiar than Bailywicks curt knocking. Before Cedric could say anything, Princess Sofia swept into the room.

"Mr. Cedric?" she called.

"Up here Princess Sofia." Cedric replied, flatly.

"Mr. Cedric, why did you leave?" Sofia walked up the stairs to meet him on the balcony.

"I was just getting some air." He said.

"Oh, well I wanted to thank you for my comb. It's beautiful." Sofia gestured to the ice lily comb that shown brilliantly amongst her brown curls.

"Oh, you're very welcome Princess." Cedric forced a smile. "Happy wassailia."

Sofia reached inside of her sleeve and pulled out her wand. Cedric raised an eyebrow.

"I wanted to give you my present too." Sofia smiled up at the sorcerer.

Wondering if he had done anything that warranted being cursed by the Princess, Cedric took a few steps back from her. Sofia raised her wand into the air and began to swirl it around. Cedric watched at tiny snowflakes appeared and began to dance around them. The snowflakes then gathered into a small orb in Sofia's hand. Cedric looked closely at it and saw that in the center of the orb were two tiny figures resembling the two of them holding wands and making it snow within the orb.

"I have been working on this for a while. I had the fairies help me. Do you like it?" Sofia held out the orb to Cedric.

"It is wonderful, Princess Sofia. Thank you so much." Cedric held the orb and continued to examine it. It must have taken her a long time to perfect, it was an advanced piece of magic and he couldn't help but be impressed.

"I'm very proud of you, Sofia." Cedric beamed at her.

"Well, I have a pretty great teacher." Sofia smiled up at him. Her cheeks were barely blushing, but he could tell that she was pleased with his reaction. Just then Bailywick came running into the workshop, out of breath.

"Princess Sofia, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you're needed downstairs."

Sofia and Cedric looked down from the balcony, alarmed.

"What's wrong Bailywick?" Sofia asked, quite concerned.

"It's Princess Amber, she has just become engaged to Prince Zandar," Bailywick replied, looking exasperated.

Sofia gave a squeal of excitement and rushed down the stairs headed out of the workshop. Cedric watched as Bailywick left the room, Sofia not far behind him. Before she walked out of the door, she turned once again to the sorcerer still standing on the balcony, holding the magical orb.

"Happy wassailia, , and thank you for the dance. I'll see you tomorrow!"

With that she left the room. Cedric smiled after her. He turned once again to the shy outside and noticed that now real snowflakes began to fall.

"Happy wassailia, my dear." Cedric said quietly to himself as he could hear the celebrations continue in the castle.


End file.
